Successful philanthropist and businessman.

Month: September 2017

Sukanto Tanoto is one of Asia’s most successful entrepreneurs, a reminder of what can happen with the right combination of graft, will, and ambition. The billionaire founder of APRIL, Sateri, and Pacific Oil and Gas currently helms RGE as chairman; RGE manages the various business groups mentioned amongst others. With a business worth 18 billion in assets and a workforce of 18,000 employees, Sukanto Tanoto has undoubtedly been a bona fide success.

Sukanto Tanoto’s success becomes all the more impressive once one considers the principled ways through which he has conducted his businesses. The veteran businessman strongly believes that businesses can profit by putting the community first, and the 5Cs principle that he espouses is testament to this belief. This principle, which emphasises the importance of doing good for the Community, Country, Climate, Customer, and Company, has unsurprisingly become a compass by which all his businesses find their direction. With 50 years of value creation and experience under his belt, Sukanto Tanoto’s legacy is rock solid, and looks set to continue through his son, Anderson Tanoto.

The rising star, the successor, the son

The youngest son of Sukanto Tanoto is a rising star in the business. The 28 year-old graduate of the famed Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is currently a Director at RGE, as well as a board of trustees member at Tanoto Foundation, the philanthropic arm started by Sukanto Tanoto and his wife, Tinah Bingei Tanoto.

Doing the right thing, the right way

While he may share the family name, Anderson Tanoto certainly took no shortcuts in his rapid rise to the top. Determined to learn the ropes right from the bottom, Anderson first gained experience as a consultant at Bain & Company, where he worked for two years; thereafter he made the switch to RGE as an assistant manager. It was a mark of his early maturity and vision, that he refused to be pushed straight into an upper management position, Anderson credits his success to his understanding of the company at every level.

Today, Anderson Tanoto is masterful and self-assured, deservedly so; he is well respected for the many changes that have made RGE more transparent, efficient, and community-centric as the company moves into the digital age, which brings along its own set of opportunities and challenges. As Sukanto Tanoto celebrates 50 years of business, he is surely at ease, as Anderson waits in the wings to lead RGE through the next 50.